If hired here at Pfizer, what do you feel would be your greatest weakness in this role?
Pfizer knows that any candidate they hire will come to their team with an area or two that won't be their strongest point on the job. With this question, they want evidence that you know your shortcomings. They also want to see that you embrace opportunities to grow and improve. The goal of your response is to show the decision-makers that you are self-aware, reflective, and can readily identify areas for improvement.
Avoid mentioning weaknesses that are red flags or potentially point to a more significant issue. For instance, if time management is a weakness, the interviewer might wonder if you can meet your deadlines or if you are frequently late to work. For this reason, it's best to choose weaknesses that will not impact your ability to succeed in the role.
It's also essential to give a thoughtful response. Avoid cliche or overused statements like:
- I work too hard
- I am a perfectionist
- I am a workaholic
- My weaknesses are also my strengths
- My greatest weakness is chocolate
The hiring team at Pfizer wants you to be honest about your weaknesses. At the same time, they want to know that you are proactive in improving yourself.
Choose a weakness that is not a core skill for the position. For instance, if you are interviewing for an administrator role, your greatest weakness should not be your Excel skills.
Perhaps you are watching YouTube tutorials to gain skills in a particular area. Maybe you are reading the latest-and-greatest books on the skills you wish to improve, or perhaps you are taking an online workshop to bridge a skills gap.
When discussing your most significant weaknesses, you must display your interest in professional growth. Be sure to maintain a positive tone, show confidence in your ability to improve, and demonstrate a desire for improvement.
The average HireVue interview takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. This one-way video interview typically includes three to five questions. Depending on the hiring company's parameters, the HireVue platform will generally give you 30 seconds to prepare a response and up to two minutes to answer each question. It's important to note that HireVue stops recording as soon as your time limit is up, so it's better to run under time than overtime.
"One weakness I've been working on improving is my ability to be concise when I send emails. Brevity has not always been my strongest point; however, I have been practicing by writing a first draft and then asking myself which words I can delete. So far, I have noticed a marked improvement; however, I believe that clear communication is a work-in-progress and can always be improved."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
My greatest weakness is, I believe, that I find it hard sometimes to say ‘no’ to people as I don’t want to let them down. What happens is people will ask me to do jobs and I’ll be like, yes, no problem, I’ll do that, leave it with me and I often end up taking too much in addition to my usual work. I sometimes feel a little bit overwhelmed, so what I need to do is to learn to say ‘no’ when the time is right. To improve in this area, I have started using Google Calendar to help me visualize how much work I have at any given moment and know whether or not I have the capacity to take on more projects. Having said that, one of my strengths is that if you find anything about me I need to improve upon, tell me and I’ll go away and do it.
Jaymie's Feedback
Your response shows that you are self-aware, have identified an area of development, and have a plan to help you grow and develop. That's exactly what the interviewer is looking for! Nice work.
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